Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium playing apparatus, such as disk players capable of reproducing audio and video signals of the recording medium in a special playback mode such as game modes, in addition to an ordinary playback mode.
Description of Background Information
Both video disk players and video tape recorders have been well known in the prior art as conventional systems for reproducing the audio and video signals of recording media for many years. For example, in the video disk player, generally speaking, audio and video signals recorded on its disk may be directly reproduced when the disk is properly formatted.
In addition, another video disk called the "LD-ROM" is known on which analog audio/video signals are recorded together with digital signals or data. In the LD-ROM, the digital data is formatted in the same manner as that of the CD (i., compact disk) so as to be EFM-modulated and then recorded.
Consequently, in the recording of the LD-ROM, by inserting a specific code into a channel Q of a subcode, it is possible for a user or player to prevent the audio signals from being reproduced in an area from which the specific code is extracted. However, in the remaining area from which the specific code is not extracted, both the video and the audio signals recorded on the disk as described above are directly reproduced.
On the other hand, in some cases, it is often disadvantageous to permit all the recorded image and sound to be arbitrarily reproduced when the video disk is played back. For example, in educational images and game images, some have their progress varied in accordance with the user's instructions. In other words, for example when the solution of an examination or the point of a game are available in an easy manner, softwares of such examination and game lose their value and become meaningless.